 MAY/SUMMER 2003 (XXXXI 3) |
At our sessions in March, Philadelphia Yearly Meeting could not reach unity on approving a budget for the next fiscal year. There was indication that some Monthly Meetings might commit additional money to PYM for fiscal year 2003/04, so that some of the proposed cuts in Yearly Meeting programs could be avoided. In order to approve a budget before the new fiscal year begins July 1, a called session of Yearly Meeting has been scheduled at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the Fourth and Arch Street Meeting House in Philadelphia. The fourth Thursday of the month is the time Interim Meeting usually meets. All members of Interim Meeting are expected to attend this called session; Friends who were present at the Yearly Meeting session March 28 were challenged to attend the called session; and all members and attenders of Friends Meetings are invited to participate.
Supper will be sold for $6 per person at 5 p.m. before the called session; reservation is not needed. To arrange childcare, you must call Mary Anne Crowley at 215-241-7221 by May 15.
Any Meeting or Friend that wishes to commit additional money to the 2003/04 budget is invited to do so now. Monthly Meeting clerks were sent this information at the beginning of April, immediately after Yearly Meeting sessions. PYM Director of Finance Kathy Reilly (215-241-7205 or kathyr@pym.org) must be informed of new financial commitments no later than Monday, May 12, if those funds are to be considered as available income to resolve the 2003/04 budget difficulties at the May 22 session.
We have bodies of Friends appointed, and processes in place, to engage in the work of spiritual discernment to assure that the PYM budget as a whole reflects the priorities and interests of the Yearly Meeting and its members as a whole. In following those processes, it will be the responsibility of the PYM Financial Stewardship Committee, working hand-in-hand with the Standing Committees, to determine how any additional funds received can best be used to restore those elements of PYM programs that Friends had expressed concern for in our Yearly Meeting sessions. At the May 22 called session, the Financial Stewardship Committee will bring revisions to the budget that sustain those programs that Friends have indicated they want to have maintained—insofar as that is possible within our commitment to have our income match our expenditures.
In the March 28 session, concerns about budget cuts focused on the elimination of the staff position for interpretation of Quakerism to visitors at Arch Street Meeting House, and the reduction of space and staffing for the PYM Library at Friends Center. The complete chart of budget cuts proposed in December is published on-line at http://www.pym.org/publish/pym-news/2003/01/chart.htm
We hope these difficulties will provide the occasion for all Friends to consider, and talk with others about, how they support the work of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as a larger, living community of faith—not only with their money, but also with gifts of their time, energy, and prayers. We invite all Friends to hold this community in the Light as we seek a better way forward.
Last modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:18 AM